Despite the rather 'heavy' title this book is very readable because the author actually has a grasp of how to write English, as well a being (on the evidence of this book) a fine historian. These two attributes do not always coincide.

He deals with much that is not new: how, over the ages 'culture' was used by rulers to strike awe into their subjects and also to impress foreigners ('the power of culture'); and the lengths that rulers were prepared to go to in order to hold, and continue, their grasp on power ('the culture of power'). It is his refreshingly new look at things that makes T.C.W.Blanning's worth reading.

And what is 'culture'? When 'ordinary' people (like you and me) are asked to define what we mean by 'culture', we usually hum and haw a bit and then start mentioning Michaelangelo. Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven, or all of them and some more. We're open to the idea that Andy Warhole's Campbell Soup tins might be called 'culture', but old-style oil paintings and orchestral symphonies -- Now that's the real stuff!

OK, so the above 'definitions' are a bit cretinous but I exaggerate to make a point. 'Culture' is a word much used but, when examined up close, can mean very different things to different people. So it is refreshing to be provided with a definition that seems to have some sort of definition about itself. Blanning quotes Sir Edward Taylor: ' [Culture is] that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society'. Some sort of definition, I said. I've long given up looking for as really exact one and this is about the best I've got so far.

The author refers to music quite a lot in the course of his discussions so if you like 'classical' music this will be another reason why you'll like this book. Music, he says, 'has a great deal to say about societies'. And not just the music itself, but the conditions under which its composers and performers had to work. We learn that Augustus the Strong of Saxony counted opera singers among his large harem of mistresses. And when in 1771 the Empress Maria Theresa was asked by her son Ferdinand whether or not he should employ a 15-year-old musician by the name of Mozart, she replied '…I can't think why you should, for you don't need a composer or any other useless people for that matter… these people roam around the world like beggars'.

There was also the virtual 'imprisonment' that came with patronage. We all read in the booklets that come with our CDs of Haydn's great patron Prince Esterhazy from the time he went to work for him in 1769 as director of music. The relationship gave us some of the finest music ever written, but at some personal cost, as Blanning explains: '… Haydn was not a servant, but he was very much the Prince's man, being at his beck and call and obliged to wear his livery. What distinguished him from composers of a later generation was his inability to control his own creations. Prince Esterhazy paid for the music, so it became his property and his alone'. In the articles of Haydn's employment it was stated that 'The said Vice-Capel-Meister [Haydn] shall be under permanent obligation to compose such pieces of music as his Serene Princely Highness may command, and neither to communicate such new compositions to anyone, nor to allow them to be copied, but to retain them wholly for the exclusive use of his Highness; nor shall he compose for any other person without the knowledge and gracious permission [of his Highness].

Obviously, the Prince would have little to learn from modern record companies as to keeping your stuff out of free downloads. Haydn found this bit of his contract very uncongenial, but at least his master was a musician himself and valued music highly. The great composer must have been aware of other musicians whose masters knew no music and couldn't care less about it and only 'kept' their musicians for show. You can imagine how these unfortunates fared. Well, better than imagining, get hold of this book and read about it.

Read too about Louise XIV's absolutely unimaginable extravagances to put France firmly on the map as the centre of culture and power. And so much more. All very relevant to our world today. ( )